Siding gage and square



I (No Model.)

P. M. CURTIS.

SIDING GAGE AND SQUARE.

No. 396,075. Patented Jan. 15, 1889.

WITNESSES. I/VITJVYOR. I m fiaWm/m.

13 0.0? Mm' 1/ f? NITED STATES FFIQEQ PHILANDER M. CURTIS, OF LEBANON, INDIAN A.

SIDING GAGE AND SQUARE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 396,075, dated January 15, 1889.

Application filed May 10, 1888. Serial No. 273,453. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PHILANDER M. CURTIS, of Lebanon, county of Boone, and State of I ndiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Siding Gages and Squares; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters refer to like parts.

My invention relates to improvemel'its in the construction of devices for gaging and squaring siding-boards, and will be understood from the following description.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a back view of my device, one arm of the straight-edge being broken off. Fig. 2 is a side view of the device. Fig. 3 is an edge view of the straightcdge and the upper part of the arm to which it is attached, also showing the upsets at each end. Fig. 4; is a front view of Fig. 1.

In detail the device consists of the gage 9, having the projection 13, the groove gr, formed in its inner face, and the spur 2, near its upper end.

a is an arm hinged at 1 to the projection p, as shown in Figs 1 and 2. The lower end of this arm is rounded, so as to permit it to be thrown forward when desired in the position shown in Fig. 2.

g is a gage-block, having a tongue, I, which moves in the groove of the gage g, and is secured to the gage by a set-screw, so, passing through a squared block, b, which fits in a recess in the gage-block g, and is connected with another slot, through which the set-screw passes into the gage g. This construction is shown fully in Fig. I and in the dotted lines in Fig. 2. The gage-block gis thus adjustable along the face of the gage g, and is set at any distance needed by the operator, according to the width of the siding used and the lap desired.

The lower siding-board having been nailed in position upon the studding, my device is then set so that the upper end of the gageblock g is brought directly beneath and against the under edge of the siding thus nailed 011 the studding. itha tap of the hammer the spurs 2 and 3 are then driven into the siding firmly enough to hold the device in position without any further help. At

any desired distance from the gage thus set in position another one is secured in the same way to hold the other end of the next board. This next board is then brought down, so that its under edge rests upon the top of the gage g just above the spur 2. If it is necessary to cut this oif, so as to true the ends, the arm a is then thrown forward against the board and a line scribed down the right-hand side of this arm upon the board as a guide for sawing it Usually one of the gages is set againstthe side of the corner-strip and another one some distance off against one of the studding, and in practice it makes no difference whether the siding is to be cut off so as to fit against the corner-strip or to meet the adjoining end of the next siding-board in the middle of one of the studding, as the inclination of the arm a is always that of the siding, and a line will be correctly drawn for enttin off the ends of the board, so that they always fit into place, needing no further preparation except, perhaps, to trim o if the edges with a bl ock-pl ane. 'When this siding-board has been nailed in place against the studding, the gages are removed and reset, so that the upper end of the gageblock g will rest beneath the lower edge of the siding-board just nailed on, the spurs driven in again, and another board set in place on top of the gage 1 The operator proceeds, board after board, resetting his gages with each successive board, the arm a being always available, the device being held up by the spurs of the gage, so that the workman can rapidly mark the boards for cutting oil wherever desired. No nails are necessary for holding the boards up, and no try-squares or measuringrules, for the gages enable the workman to dispense with all of these and save him a great deal of time and labor.

The straight-edge s is used as follows: \Vhen the siding needs to be cut off at an angle to conform to that of the frieze-board in the gable, this straight-edge, moving on the central pivot, 4, can be turned so as to incline in either direction, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. The upsets on the ends of the straight-edge are intended to go under the lower edge of the frieze-board, so as to have two points of bearing, one at each end of the straight-edge; and the operator then draws along the straight upper edge of this arm .9, the line giving the I that any such adjustable gage provided with angle at which to cut oft the siding, so that it will fit against the inclined lower edge of the frieze-board. in ordinary work, as has been said, the pieee s is not used.

It will be seen that by means elf this devive the use elf the try-square, dividers, and measuring'rules l'or gaging are entirely avoided. The operator can set his gage in the first instance so that the width of thelap may be ac:- r-urately marked oil by the instrument itself, and the arm o takes the plaee ot' the trysqu are and always gives a true angle, eon forming, as it always does, to the slope of. the weat-hei.'-boardine' upon the side, while the straighhedge s performs a similar serviee in determining the angle at which the siding is to be out oil? to eonform to the angle of the frieze-board in the gable.

I am aware that adjustable siding-gages provided with spurs for holding" the same in position are not new, and do not broadl elaim the same as my invention; bntlam not aware a hinged arm for squaring the side at the point where it is out off? and carryinga pivoted straight-edge upon the upper end of such arm has ever been known or used.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to seeure by Letters Patent, is the following, to wit:

The sii'ling-gage herein described, e01nprising the gage g, havil'lg the spur 2, the adjustable gage-block: g, connected. therewith, having the spur :3 upon its t'aee, and the movable arm (I, hinged tothe gage g, as shown, and carrying the straightede'e s, pivoted at its upper extremity, all combined sul'istantially as shown and (.l(. seri]')ed.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this :Nth day of April, 1885.

PI'II'LANDER M. (7U BT15.

\Vitnesses:

J. P. JACOBS, E. B. GRIFFI'JFH. 

